Incline basketball | Highlanders headed to Elko for postseason

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Having already secured playoff berths, the Incline basketball teams ended the regular season with Mount Rose League games at Sparks this past Saturday. The girls coasted to a 41-25 win while the boys lost 53-42.

In the girls game, the Highlanders got off to a slow start before turning it on in the second quarter. They led 9-5 after one period but used a 20-7 run in the second quarter to take a commanding 29-12 lead into the half.

The Highlanders then held the Railroaders scoreless in the third quarter to increase their lead to 36-12.

Incline, which finished the regular season 15-12 overall and 7-3 in the Mount Rose League, was disappointed to learn that it had earned the No. 4 seed in the Northern Division III regional tournament, as opposed to the No. 3 seed, as expected.

Based on a new points system used to determine postseason seedings - which no longer rewards wins against larger opponents like it once did - Yerington was given the third seed ahead of Incline, even though the Lions finished with a worse record (13-13 overall).

As it stands, the Highlanders will face fifth-seeded neighboring rival North Tahoe in Elko on Thursday at 3 p.m. The winner has the unfortunate task of playing top-seeded Pershing County - in all likelihood - on Friday at 6:20 p.m.

At least one Incline player raised her concerns about the new seedings system to NIAA Executive Director Eddie Bonine in an email Monday, requesting that the NIAA "reconsider (its) seeding decisions and stick to the system that the coaches and teams believed was in place."

The Incline boys, meanwhile, hung with the larger Railroaders for a good portion of the game. They trailed only 16-11 after the first quarter, 27-24 at the half and 40-31 after three quarters.

Incline, at 12-13 overall and 4-6 in Mount Rose League play, will enter the Northern Division III regional tournament as a sixth seed and will face third-seeded West Wendover in Elko on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. The winner faces the winner between second-seeded Silver Stage and seventh-seeded North Tahoe on Friday at 4:40 p.m.

The top two seeds from the eight-team tournament advance to the state championship tournament in Las Vegas. Go to the NIAA website (www.niaa.com) to view the full brackets.